Bay County Weights in on Florida Election Reform

Posted: Mon 5:59 PM, Jan 14, 2013&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Tue 9:53 AM, Jan 15, 2013

Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen, joined 9 of his colleagues in Tallahassee Monday to testify on election reform. The Florida League of Women voters sponsored the state senate hearing, in-response to voting problems during the November general election.But, despite long lines at some Panama City Beach precincts in November, voting in Bay County was relatively smooth. In fact, Bay County was the first in the state to report elections results that night, but it took nearly two months for others to finalize their numbers. The Florida League of Women Voters has targeted five top priorities to improve the process. "One is to improve the early voting process, another is to modernize early registration and to better handle absentee voting," said Jamie Shepard, president of The League of Women Voters of Bay County. The league also wants to improve access and safety for disabled and elderly voters. But most see the biggest problem as the lengthy constitutional amendments. "That magnitude of information for voters to look at effected us statewide,” Mark Andersen. “That's what everyone's looking at, is it the length of the ballot or other issues. A lot of it is pointing to the length of the ballot." Many are advocating additional early voting days to prevent long lines on election day. "We need to remember that overall Florida did not fail the election process, we had some long lines and some other little nuances,” said Andersen. “But we're moving on to the next election.” League members and elections supervisors will be meeting with house members on Tuesday.

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